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still with the beetles - Enough already!
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Posted by
sc_gardener zone 5 (
My Page) on
Sun, Sep 16, 12 at 22:45
| STILL have the japanese beetles here in zone 5. They started a couple weeks early this year about 3rd week of June because we had a mild winter. That means part of June, All of July, August and September, those jerks are still munching away. Not as swarming as they were, you know like those nasty bunches of them, but pretty much the roses are completely eaten away.
SO tired of it. It is nearly OCTOBER.
I have not treated my grass with any product, tried milky spore once about 10 years ago and noticed no difference. In past years I would spray the bugs only with the imidacloprid spray, but again, seemed to not make any difference in decreasing the population.
Anyone else still have these? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| Yep! Like you said, not the huge swarms but still munching away. Was wondering about this myself-HATE them! |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| Thank god that's one of the few pests I don't have yet, but I'm sure they're on the way here. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| JB's have been a "Biblical plague" in my garden the last 4-5 years also, my summer bloom cycle has been completely devoured by them. In Aug I came across a rose blog with some info about a different type of insecticide, Demand CS & I sent for some. It is a major improvement over things like Merit & Sevin because it appears to have both a residual & repellant affect lasting around 10 days. The one weakness is that blooms that were in tight bud when sprayed & open after spraying get some JB's back on them because the Demand CS does not penetrate the tight bud. The JB's were starting to decline when I did my trial but it really knocked them down on my roses & they were still active on my Morning Glories & other plants in my garden so I think it should work well even during peak July JB levels. This is not an organic solution if you are an organic gardener & it is not approved for edibles, just ornimental plants. |
Here is a link that might be useful: ROSE BLOG
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Mon, Sep 17, 12 at 16:15
| I haven't seen any JBs lately but I'm still finding lots of the cucumber beetles all over. They're smaller but do pretty good damage in their own right! |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| Its been a bad year.. as bad as any, and long. I sprayed for the first couple weeks to get the last few blooms out, but then I stopped, I dont really enjoy the spraying. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| Has anyone tried putting a cage covered with netting over a plant. It wouldn't be useful for something large like a big shrub or antique rose but for a HT or Fl, it might save flowers and foliage. If I lived in JB areas, I might try a screened room. I had to build one for my fuchsias when I had constant fuchsia mite infections from neighborhood hummingbirds. The mites would devastate my plants every year- year round. If I did nothing, the plants would be on a countdown to death. I understand your frustration completely. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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- Posted by TNY78 7a-East TN (My Page) on
Mon, Sep 17, 12 at 18:49
| Japanese beetles are gone here....and oddly no cucumber beetles this year (not complaining though!) Hopefully they'll head out of your area soon! Tammy |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| CS - thank you, will have to try. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| Is Demand CS bee-friendly? This year was the worst ever for JBs in history. I still am finding a handful in the garden. Tonight should finish them off; supposed to get to 38F. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| The Demand CS label says that it is toxic to bees & you should spray early or late in the day to avoid them. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| Then would it make sense that the potential for carryover toxicity for beneficial insects is there? I have held off spraying any form of insectide because of this very reason. I'm paranoid about harming my bees...I don't want anything toxic getting on their little feet and faces. I'm hopeful that the drastic drought this year will reduce the number of JBs for next year, but I dunno. This year was horrible. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Tue, Sep 18, 12 at 12:51
| My friend covers the buds with cheese cloth and lets them open inside that and then cuts them and brings them in the house to enjoy. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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- Posted by maryl Z7 Okla. (My Page) on
Tue, Sep 18, 12 at 15:29
| Kittymoonbeam: Did I misread that? What do hummingbirds and Fuchsia mites have to do with each other? Never heard of the connection before.......Maryl |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| The mites get carried by hummingbirds when they move from plant to plant. A local fuchsia grower said to just pour on the toxins. I said wouldn't that hurt the birds? She said well they're killing your plants so...... I walked away in disgust. The farm supply told me there was no cures except the more dangerous systemic chemicals so I thought up the screened frame idea. It worked great. After a few years, the sick plants near me must have died because I put out a test plant that I rooted and it never got sick. So many times I wanted to use the poison especially when I lost huge fuchsia trees that were 10 years old but I couldn't bear to think of hummingbirds with cancer or seisures or little birds with birth defects. I love my plants just as much even if I had to look at the ugly screen. I like the cheesecloth idea. They make lightweight bags with drawstrings for the orchards and I bet it's the right size for a rose. Now if they would only make ones with sticky stuff on the outside you could protect and trap at the same time. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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| Still got the JBs here. Hoping that the cool nights this week will knock them out. They've ravaged my Julia Child. I had a pair of cardinals living in an arbor vitae in my backyard. It was fun to watch them pick at the beetle on my roses. Thought this website had some interesting advice and prevention tips. The grass mowing is something that can easily be maintained. We've also taken an interest in attracting birds to our yard. (I curse the neighborhood cats on a regular basis.) |
Here is a link that might be useful: Master Gardeners of Hamilton County, TN Japanese Beetle info
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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I said wouldn't that hurt the birds? She said well they're killing your plants so...... I walked away in disgust.I hit her with a frying pan because she's killing the birds, so...... There, I fixed it for ya. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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- Posted by mori zone 5/6 (My Page) on
Thu, Sep 20, 12 at 16:39
| My pink peace is the only rose brush blooming right now and it smells wonderful, especially when the wind blows. However yesterday when I went to water the garden, I discover those damn cucumber beetles in almost every bud that had opened. Its just so frustrating seeing them destroy those blooms. |
RE: still with the beetles - Enough already!
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- Posted by maryl Z7 Okla. (My Page) on
Thu, Sep 20, 12 at 18:35
| Thanks kitty for the reply re: hummingbirds and the mites. I don't grow Fuchsias (not suitable for our climate), but I wondered about the relationship and passed the information you gave on to a Fuchsia growing friend of mine....Maryl |
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